Suction cleaner



Feb. 19 1924. 1483 H. E. HOOVER 7 972 SUCTICN CLEANER Filed June 10 19183 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb., 19 1924.

` H. E. HOOVER suc'rIoN CLEANER Filed June 10 19518 3 Sheets-Sheet 2TIIFII Feb. 19 ,A 1924.

H.*E. HOOVER `SUCTIQN CLEANER Filed June Patented Feb. 19, 1924.

HOWARD EARL HOOVER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR,

BY Mnsnn ASSIGNMENTS,

TO THE HOOVER COMPANY, OF'NORTH CANTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHO.

S UCTION CLEANER.

AApplication filed J'une 1o, 1918. Serial No. 239,090.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD EARL Hoovnn, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful improvement in Suction Cleaners, ofwhich the following is a specication.

4My invention relates to improvements in suction SWeepers. It has forone object to provide a new and improved --form of sweeper which will below in height and therefore well adapted to travel under furniture forcleaning purposes, which, can be easily assembled and disassembled,light in weight, durable, smooth running and inexpensive to manufacture.Other objects of my invention vwill appear from time to time in thespecifica-tion. y

The invention' is illustrated more or less "diagrammatically in theaccompanying drawings wherein,

Figure 1 1S a side elevation;

Figure 2 is a plan View vwith parts in section;

Figure 3 is a section;

Figure 4 is of Fig. l;

Figure 5 is a sectional view showing the hose pipe connection in place.

Figure 6 is an end view of the end closing cap and shaft with nutremoved;

Like parts are indicated by similar figures in all the drawings.

A is a laterally extended elongated suction nozzle housing having adownwardly extended open suction mouth A1. Integral with this housingand extending rearwardly from it is a fan casing A2. This fan casing isopen on one side as indicated and is bounded on the other side by a wallA3 which divides the casing into the fan chamber AAx and a suctionchamber A5, the wall A3 being apertured as at A6 in register with anaperture A7 inthe outer wall A8 of the suction chamber. This `apertureis closed by a removable cap A1" flanged as at A10 held in vposition .bythe clip member A11 and the spring A12 engaging the screw A13. Extendingrearwardly and tangentially from front elevation with parts in a sectionalong the line 4-4 the fan chamber is a discharge passage A14terminating in an extended 'ange A1.

B is a roller or wheel mounted for rotation on a cylindrical sleeve B1.Through this cylinder sleeve is passed a stud B2 having a head B3adapted to engage a bracket B4 projecting outwardly from the housing A2.This bracket B4 is slotted as at B5. A washer B on the stud B2 engagesthe end of the sleeve B1. A similar washer B7 engages the other end ofthe sleeve and is engaged by al nut Bs screw-threaded on the stud sothat tightening up of this nut compresses the washer between the nut andthe head and locks the whole assembly in adjusted positionalong vtheslotv B5 with respect to the bracket B4 thereby making possible to raiseor lower the height' of the rear end of the suction cleaner from thefloor and thereby raise and lower the suction mouth toward or from thefloor by rotating it aboutthe supporting wheels B9 B9 which l arerotatably mounted on brackets B10 B10. These wheels are not adapted tobe adjusted in height but the studs are present asin connection with thewheel B and the sleeve washer arrangement wheels may be locked inposition by compression of the sleeve, but this does not affect therotation of the wheel on the sleeve. Attention is called to the factthat the wheels adjacent the nozzle are 'turned' inward, and that thesuction mouth and the nozzle overhang a considerable distance beyond thefront -supporting wheels, thereby making it possible to run the cleanerlalong the edge of a rug without danger of the wheels dropping oft' therug onto the fioor or causing the nozzle to bind on the carpet or rugitself.

C is a motor housing closed at one end as indicated, and provided at theother end with a flange C1 adapted to be 'fastened on to the open sideof the fan housingA2 to close it. Within this motor housing is a motornot here shown, but it drives afan shaft C2. rIhis shaft carries the fanCs housing or chamber A", and also a pulley b4 located within thesuction chamber A5. This pulleyv C4 drives an open belt C which in turntravels'on a pulley C6 on the brush C7 and rotates it. This brush C7 ismade' up' in the fan( is the same so that the once about the brush and.reachin from end to end thereof. lllhie brush' body is enlarged at theends as at C10, and these enlar 'ed ends or cups contain the oillessbearing sleeves C11, which bearings rotate on the brush shaft C12.

rli`he end walls oi the suction nozzle are apert'ured as at D and eachaperture is closed by a removable cap D1 which cap is flanged as at D2.Each flange has projecting radially outwardly therefrom at one `point alug E'provided with a stud D in register with a series of holes D5arranged about the periphery of the aperture D. The shaft C12 passesthrough one of these caps D1y at each end and is shouldered as at D tolimit movement of the cap and shaft. D" is a nut screwed on a reducedend of the shaft C12, whereby by tightenin it u the cap and shaft may berigidly astene together.

The ends of the shaft C12 are Hattened at either end asv at D11 andthese flattened ends engage the Hat sided or irregular shaped holes D12in the caps D1 so that when you rotate the cap at one end of the shaftyou rotate the cap at the othgr end through the same angle and it wouldbe possible to dispense with the means for holding one of the capsagainst rotation and rely on the shaft passing through to keep it fromrotating when the one on the other end is held but, of course, it isbetter to make them both the same and thus make assurance doubly sure.

shouldered makes it impossible for too great tightening of the nuts onthe shaft to jamb the caps D1 against the ends of the bearings.

Thus, no matter how tight you lock thecaps will result in movingthe-shaft up or? down to raise or lower the brush toward or' from thefloor for the purpose ofadjustment. -This'of course can only be donewhen.

the nuts are released and the paps are pulled out enough so that thepins on the lugs come out of the holes to permit rotary movement oradjustment.W Da is an annular ilange exi' tending inwardly from each capsurrounding the* flange D9 on the endv of the brushv which lange D? islocated withinthe cup thus formed. D10, D1 are -perforations through thecaps whereby a blast of air'may enter into the space between the endofthe;

vbrush and the cap, and thence out .the two flanges to assist in keelngfclean the bearings upon which the b. 'n 1s mounted, and preventingfouling'or bihdngj by foreign matter which mightv otherwise work 'intothe bearing space' andl lock this The fact that the ends of the shaftare parts together, or interfere with the rotation of the brush.

.It will be observed that the front wall of the suction nozzle housingis curvedas at E, that the most forward projecting part of that wallcarries a protecting band or turniture guard E1 held 1n position byscrews E2, the wall extends rearwardly and downwardly from suchprojecting part so as to conform more or less to the curve passed overby the ends of the bristle bunches as they rotate. The lower edge of thewall is reinforced as at E? and these reinforced portions are erforated.to permit passage of the spring rush guard lingers E3. These ingers aregrouped in U-shaped pairs, having a stralght base portion E4 restingagainst the outer wall of the suction nozzle housing. Thisassembly isheld in position by two screwsll5 engagin lthe portion E- adjacent bothends so that t e spring fingers themselves are. held in position,project downwardly and rearwardly across the mouth of the nozzle and arethen bent upwardly so that they more or less lconform to the pathtravelled by the ends of the bristle bunches. E is a ange which extendsforward from the rear wall of the housing beneath the ends of the guardfingers so that it is imposible for rugs or floor coverings to be drawninto the nozzle far enough to interfere with the brush, but suchcoverings are held by the suction ofthe fan up against the f open mouthand the ard lingers in such position that the brush bristles may actupon them. AObviously merely withdrawing .the screws will make itpossible to withdraw any pair of fingers independent of any others.

A F is a dust bag having an' open mouth as indicated, terminating in abead F1 and slipped on to a removable flanged sleeve F2. The o en mouthis held on to this flanged sleeve y a clamping or locking ring F3, and

the sleeve itself is held in position against the Harige A15 -by meansof ears F* through which pass the' studs F'i which 4in turn arev.engaged by the thumb nuts F whereby the .parts may be clamped inposition so that the i dustJaden lair discharged radially from the 'fanchamber will be caught in the dust bag. v G is a handle bail. Itcommunicates with A sweeper manipulating handle G1l and may y 'madeitself in two parts as indicated,

bound together by a sleeve G2'which clamps them onto the 'end of thesweeper handle.

Thefree ends of the bail are pivoted one of `them upon the brackets Gr3G2 on the motor housing C, the other upon a pin G1 on the fan housingA2., Grs is the handle bail stop.

:It is pivoted at yone end on the stud Gre on .the fan housing. It isprovidedwith anl irregular elongated slot G7', on'one side of which aretwo adjacent hook' members Gs G.

G1 is a pin projecting from the handle bail headed at each end andadapted to lie within the slot G7 to limit the movement of the handlebail. stop rests by gravity .on the pin, that the only Way to get it outof the position shown in Figure l is to lift it up by engaging the footpiece G11. When 'this is done the handle may be moved clear down `into aposition where it does not rise above the top of the fan housing, or itmay be moved until it standsstraight up. As soon, however, as the bailis moved back, it will drop down into the position shown in Figure 1when the eX- cursion or rocking movement of the handle with respect tothe sweeper is more or less limited as is necessary to permit adjustmentduring operation to suit the height or convenience of the operator.

In order that the device may be used to suck air through a pipe for usewith the ordinary type of hand cleaning tool not here illustrated, thecap A larged coupling member H is put into the opening A1 and theopening A6 closing them both and shutting off the suction nozzle fromthe fan chamber. This couplingmemberhas thrust into it the connectingend H1 of the suction hose H2. It is adapted to be held in position bythe spring latch H3 which engages the pin A13. Of course before thisconnection is made the brush belt will have to be disconnected from thepulley on the fan shaft.

It will be evident that while l have shown in my drawings an operativedevice, still many changes might be made both in size, j

shape and arrangement of parts without departing materially from lthespirit of my invention and I Wish, therefore, that my drawings beregarded as in a sense diagrammatic.

The use and operation of my invention are as :tollows:

Because of the fact that the motor is at one side of and behind thesuction nozzle and its axis of rotation is parallel with the suctionnozzle, the height of the machine is .so reduced that it may be run`under beds, chairs, tables and the like, machines can not be run. Inthis connection thehandle bail is a narrow rigid structure and it maycompletely down below the top of the machine. It is thus possible'to runclear in under a bed without interference. 1

The latch or lo'k for limiting the movement of the handle bail is alwaysin operation. When the pin on the bail is at one end of the slot handlewill be held in a substantially horizontal position, when at the otherend of the slot the handle will be held in a substantially verticalposition. The hori zontal position is used when cleaning under a bed orthe like.

used when storing the sweeper. The two It will be understood that the pis removed'and an en- Where ordinary be dropped down so as to falll Thevertical position is intermediate positions are immediately assumed whenyou rotate the handle from either one of the extreme positions. rlheweight of the stop causes it to drop down' whenl it is released so thatthe hook members on the upper side of the slot come into opposition tothe pin and thus limit the rotational movement of handle and bail withrespect to the housing to that narrow movement which is desirable duringthe operation to permit the position of the handle to conform to or tochange with the convenience of the operator. l

The height of the nozzle above the floor may be adjusted in the obviousway, by releasing the tension on the stud and moving the roller and studup and down with respect to the slot in the bracket. As soon as theproper position has been reached thel stud is tightened up and the partswill be locked in position, and this is done without any possibility ofclamping the roller or wheel itself, because the single cylindricalsleeve in the roller takes up the pressure ani rotects the roller'against binding. The roller itself can easily be taken down or re newedby merely pulling out the stud and releasing and separating the sleeve,the roller, and the two washers. AThis may be done in lconnection withany one of the three wheels or rollers of the machine.

The adjustment of the height of the brush which is frequently necessary`because the brushes wear though the carpet does not, is accomplished byreleasing the tension on the central brush shaft. This makes it possibleto move both of the caps closing the holes in the ends of the nozzlehousing out until the studs carried by them clear the locking holes inthe outer end walls. Then these caps may be rotated and since the brushis eccentrically mounted on the cap, the rotation raises or lowers the-is so obvious 1t 1s not essential to go to the expense of roviding anyautomatic device to compel tlie operator to make the adjustment the sameat both ends, but in order to make assurance doubly sure the ends of theshaft where they go through the adjusting plates are flattened on oneside to conform to flattened holes in the plates sothat when you rotateone end of the shaft the plaie on that end must rotate the other end andthe plate on,it to the same distance.

When the device is used to clean draperies and the like by means of thesuction hose or when it is desired to change or renew or adjust thebelt, the capopposite the end of the fan and motor shaft is removed byreleasing brush. Obviously in order to get proper operation, the adjust-'since of course the only thing that holds the two caps in place is thetension on the shaft. Of course 'it would be possible to meansassociated takeout all the guard fingers and let the brush come out tothe open mouth, but this would be a 'very diiiicult proceeding, and thiswould not be done'under ordinary conditions when removing it endw'ise isso much easier.

I claim 1'. The combination with a suction hood having apertured ends,of plates mounted for rotation in such' apertured-ends, a brushshaftextending through said plates and eccentric thereto, a brushmounted for rotation on said shaft and means cooperating' with the shaftfor holding the plates in posij tion on the hood.

2.` The combination 'iyith a suction hood having apertured ends, ofplates mounted for rotation in such apertured ends, a brushf.

shaft eccentrically mounted -on said plates and al brush rotatablymounted on the shaft, with the shaft for abutting one side of the plate,means associated with tllie shaft, for abutting the other side of the pate, the two said means and means for locking the plates in positionagainst rotation.A

3. The combination with an open mouthed suction hood having aperturedvends, plates mounted for rotation. in such apertured ends,

a brush shaft extending through said pla-tes and eccentric thereto, abrush mounted for rotation on said shaft, means for exerting a tensionon said shaft to draw said plates inwardly to seat and lock them on thehood v4and means for adjustably holding said plates against rotation, llng lnward movement vent binding of the brush.

plates against rotation.

4... The combination with a suction hood having apertured ends, ofplates mounted in such apertured ends, said apertures and plates' soshaped that the platemay occupy dlfferent relative rotational positionswith reference to the aperture, a brush shaft eX- -tend1ng through said\thereto, a brush mounte plates and eccentric for rotation on said shaftand means ,for drawing said plates inwardly to seat and'secure the lateson the hood, means for adjustably holding 'said and means for limitofsaid plates to pre- .5. In a suction sweeper a hood, a brush mounted'for rotation therein, the end of the adapted to clamp the plate between1 are apertured, rotatably mounted plates for assente hood beingapertured, in combination with. an integral member comprising a combinedclosure, brush adjuster and brush thread guard.

6. In a suction sweeper, a hood, a brush mounted for rotation therein,ythe end of the hood being apertured, a unitary combined apertureclosure, brush adjuster and bearing thread guard plate removably seatedin the laperture and mounted for rotation therein, the brush beingeccentrically mounted on the plate and the plate being fianged tooverhang the end of the brush, and means for securing the plate inposition.

7. In a suction sweeper having a housing with apertured end walls, abrush mounted for rotation therein, a plate seated in the the brushbeing eccentrically mounted on the plate, 'the plate being 'flanged tooverhang the end of: the brush, there being a similar Aaperture andmounted for rotation therein,

plate at the other end of the brush, a connectwith air inlet holesopposite the end of thev brush, means for locking said plates inposition longitudinally and means preventing the plates from rotating.

9. ln a suction sweeper, a lioodwho'se ends closing said apertures, abrush eccentrically mounted on said plates for rotation, air inlets inthe plates opposite the end of the brush to prevent the brush fromfouling and means for locking said aperture closure in position.

10. In a suction sweepen, a hood whose ends are apertured, platees forclosing said apertures, a brush eccentrically mounted on said plates forrotation,-air inlets in the plates opposite the .end of the brush toprevent the bru'shfrom fouling, means for '"i- .115

tating the plates and. locking them in position so as to adjust theheight of the brush inthe hood and means plates against turning.

11. In a suction sweeper, a hood Whose ends are anertured, platesforclosing said apertures, a brush eccentrically mounted on said platesfor rotation and air inlets lin4 the plates opposite the' end of the:.brush to `prevent `the brush from fouling,"delectors associated withsaid air inletsiDO` govern the direction of How of the'air' currents andmeans for rotating the plates and'locklng for securing saidl them inposition so as to adjustthegheight of the brush in the hood.

t 12. En. asuction sweeper having a housing I with a ertued end Walls, abrush support and adJustment member comprising a plate rotatably mountedin said housing, said plate having a brush bearing ecoentrioallypositioned Within it and provided with unobstruoted openings adjacentsaid brush bearing.

In testimony whereof, I aHiX my signature in the presence of twoWitnesses this 7th day of June, 1918.

' HOWARD EARL HOOVER.

Witnesses:

MARION L. INGRAHAM, MINNIE M; LINDENAU.

